Automatic toaster



'Jun@ 21, 1949. 1 p, J, MGCULLOUGH I 2,473,719

AUTOMATIC TOAS'IER Original Filed May 12, 1943 v //VVEN7Z3 PAUL J. McCuLpouGH Patented June 21, 1949 mesh-e assignments, to The Toasts'well' Company; Incorporated, St. Louis, Mo., a corporat than of Missouri Original application May 12, 1943', ser al" No.

4863411 Divide'cland this application Novem- Bf2'3i1945Q SiialNO. 630,487

41Claimsd- (Cl. 21919 The. invention relates: to automatic. electric.

toasters of the general type1illi1stratedland:de-- scribed in Patent 'NO}.2;253,637, .issueditdthe present applicant. August 26;. 1941:,ahd consistsin all thenovel features of" a constril'ctionrreferredto below. This application is a divisiomof a copend ing application Serial No; 486,641,.filed May 12;.

1943, now Patent No. 2 404976} issued; Jul 30, 1946, to the'present applicant jointlywithtcharles H. Steuber.

The general objectof theinvention is'tosprovide thermostatic control of; the toasting; periodto maintain aisubstantially" uniform degree of toasting for a given. setting: irrespective of whether the toasting operatiorris ancisolated one or one of several: closely successivaoperati'ons.

In obtaining this object. the-present invention utilizes a thermostat and it ls' a further. object to subject the thermostat: to: approximately: the

same temperature as the: toasting; compartment during a portion of the cycleoi operations.

A more specific objectai'szto subject? the thermostat, at least in part,.to' az substantially reduced temperature as soon as the toasting operatlon is completed and thereby facilitate the correct functioning of the thermostat during an" ensuing operation.

In the preferred arrangement, the: thermostat is positioned adjacent to an electric resistance heater and anen'dof the thermost'at'moves towards and away from the heater and into-and out of the toasting compartment. It is;a further object to preventcont'aetbetween the thermostat and the heater thusprotectingeaeli element from injury by the other.

A further specific object is" to position the thermostat in the heating chamber-while a timing mechanism which it controls isspaced'from' the heating chamber.

These and other detailobiect's oftlie' invention as well appear from the followingdescription are attained by the structure illustrated in the accomp anying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a top view of one end of a toaster and showing a thermostat and associated parts in horizontal section.

Figure 2 is a view taken approximately on line 22 of Figure 1'- and. showsthe arrangement of a chamber partition and a thermostat associated therewith.

Figure 3 is a view taken approximately on line 3-3 of Figure 1 and indicat'i'ngpart of the timingv unit and the associated thermostat control thereof when the deviceiscoldl Figure 4 is a similar illustration showing; the.

thermostat control in a position assumed when heated.

The toaster comprises a housing I, having transverse partitions 3 forming a plurality of toasting compartments 2, only one of which is 2. shown, each having; a pair of spaced; plate-like electric resistance heaters H; A: carrier 5 in cludes slice supports: 5a movable vertically.

through'the oven between each pair of heaterst Theheater current is. energized: to begin atoast ing period by closing the; contacts; of. a switch. 4'

by downward movement of c'arrierrS effected by manual downward movement. of. a handle. 1.

Carrier 5, while being lowered,.engages'a shoulder I0 on a winding bar l l whichais pivoted at I31 to a trip latch. l2 and is connected to the escape movement of a clockwork mechanism. 0. (Figure 3). Also, carrier 5 engages a hook Son. a. trip latch l2 to hold carrier'5 tovwinding bar H during upward movement, as describedbelow. Fur

ther downward movement ofrcarrier. Sforces bar I l downwardly to wind the clockworkmechanism.

When handle I is released after being'mcved downwardly to itslower limit-,carrier 5, winding bar ll, and'trip' latch l2-:rise together slowly, as controlled by the clockworlsescape mechanism, under the influence of a spring 9, biasedto move carrier 5 upwardly to nonetoasting position, un-- til tail M of member l2:reaches=the lower end'of an arm l5 pivoted at I on anangle strip l'l secured to aninner wall 19 of the housing; Further'upward movement of latch I2 and the associated parts causes rotation of the latch against tension of a spring 20, about its pivot [3 on bar ll, resulting inthe disengagement of hook El and release-of carrier B'from winding bar II, whereupon spring 9 immediately raises carrier 5 to its uppermost position (Figure 4'). Obviously, the

length of the toasting period is determined by the position of arm l5 as it engages" tail M of latch l2, the soonerarm l5 engages tail i l, the shorter thetoastlng period.

Arm l5'is actuated by a bimetal thermostat 2i mounted indirectly upon partition 3, adj'ac'entto an opening 22 therein. A spacerancl heat conducting member 23, longerand wider than aperture 22, extends abreast thereof'and its;ends are secured to partition 3 beyond the ends". of apersure 22, but its intermediate portion is offset from partition 3 towards heating element H1 The offset portion is positioned alongside oflhe'ating element H and hence its temperature correspends more closely to that of the heater than doesthe temperature of the partition. or of the air in the toasting compartment. Thermostatv 2| is secured at its inner end 24" to member 23..

When-bar 2| is cold, it assumes" the substantially straight position at the inner side of'partition 3.

and against or close to member 23 as indicated in full lines in Figure 1; When the thermostat extending therefrom towards the heater. Flanges 25 slow the upward passage or hot air through the space between heater H and partition 3, and cooperate with plate 23 to cause the thermostat to respond rapidly to the temperature of the heating compartment.

As a substantial portion of thermostat 2| moves to the right through aperture 22 in partition 3 and outside of the heating compartment, it is subject to the temperature of the air in the space between partition 3 and the adjacent portion of housing I and the warmer the air in this space, the more rapidly thermostat bar 2| will move arm l5 to the right (Figure 4), and the shorter will be the toasting period. During the first few closely successive toasting operations initiated when the toaster is cold, the cool air in the space between the partition and the end of the toaster will check the movement of the thermostat to the right and prolong the toasting operation accordingly. Hence the thermostat tends to maintain a substantially uniform degree of toasting for a given setting irrespective of whether the toasting operation is an isolated one or one of several closely successive operations.

A flat spring 26 is secured at one end to the lower end of arm I5 and is connected at its upper end by a link 2'! to an extension 28 on the movable end of thermostat 2|. Spring 26 is stifi' enough to move arm [5 in accordance with the movement of the swinging end of the thermostat unless movement of arm [5 is resisted by its engagement with tail M, in which case spring 26 will yield to accommodate the deflection of the thermostat, as more fully explained and claimed in the parent application, Serial No. 486,641. A tension spring 3| tends to return arm 15 to the position shown in Figure 3.

The lower end of arm 15 is slotted to receive the upper portion of a clip 29 to guide the arm. The outer end of this clip is flanged at 30 to form a stop limiting movement of arm l5 to the right (Figure 4) so that it will not interfere with other adjacent toaster parts. If, due to carelessness,

switch control failure, an intentional exhaustive test, or other unusual circumstances, the thermostat is subjected to such a high temperature that it tends to move beyond the position shown in full lines in Figure 4, such movement is accommodated by deflection of spring 26 after arm l5 engages flange 30. The yielding connection between thermostat bar 2| and arm l5 avoids the thermostat bar taking a permanent set as would result if there were no yielding connection. The above-mentioned patent application claims the structure just described.

The details of the construction may be varied substantially without departing from the spirit of the invention and the exclusive use of such modiflcations as come within the scope of the claims is contemplated.

What is claimed is:

1. In a toaster, a plate like heater, a partition closely associated with but spaced from said heater and formin a side of a toasting compartment, said partition having an elongated aperture, a strip extending abreast of and overlapping the boundaries of said aperture and positioned between said heater and said partition, a thermostat including an elongated bar secured at one end to said strip and being free at its other end to move to and from said strip into and out of said heating compartment through said aperture, the free end of said bar being adapted when cooled to lie near said strip and within said compartment and when heated to move away from said strip and outside of said compartment, and a timing mechanism controlled by said thermostat.

2. In a toaster having a timing mechanism, a plate like heater, a partition parallelling and spaced from said heater and forming a side of a toasting compartment and having an aperture, a spacer and heat conductor member carried by the partition and comprising a strip extending abreast of said aperture and offset from the partition and alongside the heater, a thermostat including a bar secured at one end to said strip and adapted when cooled to lie against said strip and within said compartment and when heated to move its other end away from said strip through said aperture and outside of said compartment, and a timing mechanism element controlled by the latter-mentioned end of the thermostat.

3. In a toaster having a thermostat controlled timing mechanism, a plate-like heater, a partition parallelling and spaced from said heater, and forming a side of a toasting compartment, there being an elongated aperture in said partition, a strip within the toasting compartment and adjacent said heater and parallelling said partition and extending abreast of said aperture and being wider and longer than the aperture, the thermostatic control includin an elongated bar secured at one end to one end portion of said strip and having an extension at its other end projecting through said aperture, said bar being adapted when cooled to lie against said strip and within said compartment and when heated to move its free end away from said strip and outside of said compartment.

4. In a toaster having a thermostat controlled timing mechanism, a plate-like heater, a partition parallelling and spaced from said heater and forming a side of a toasting compartment, horizontal flanges adjacent the upper and lower portions of the partition and extending therefrom towards the heater, there being an elongated aperture in said partition, intermediate said flanges, a strip within said compartment and parthe aperture, the thermostatic control including an elongated bar secured at one end to one end portion of said strip and having an extension at its other end projecting through said aperture, cooled to lie against said strip and within said compartment and when heated to move away from said strip and outside of said compartment, said strip being positioned between said bar and said heater,

PAUL J. MCCULLOUGH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,112,422 McCullough et al. Mar. 29, 1938 2,201,456 Sardeson May 21, 1940 2,207,946 Sardeson July 16, 1940 2,237,146 Ireland Apr. 1, 1941 

